


Crossing Over

by mysticsushi



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Post The Gift episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-02-03 23:17:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1759423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticsushi/pseuds/mysticsushi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buffy and Co. are audience members for a taping of “Crossing Over with John Edward”, a show in which the psychic host ‘communicates’ with the dead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crossing Over

*** “From an early age, John Edward displayed remarkable psychic abilities, predications and premonitions he couldn’t explain. At fifteen, a reading by a psychic changed his life. John was told what millions have witnessed – he can reunite people in the physical world with those who have crossed over.” ***  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
A man in his thirties walked out from behind a massive white screen suspended from the ceiling to the sound of applause. His tall frame, dressed casually, came to a stop on a large illuminated disk surrounded by people on three sides. He had close cropped, dark brown hair and a face that was more striking than handsome, with intense eyes that seemed to take in his audience in one glance.

“Thank you. Welcome to ‘Crossing Over’,” he said, his hands clasped in front of him. “I’m John Edward. Before we begin, there are a few things I want to go over. When I perform a reading, I interpret what I’m seeing, hearing and feeling as those on the other side relay it to me. I can’t chose who comes through and what they come through with. I ask that you keep an open mind and listen to what they have to say instead of focusing on what you want to hear. They have their reasons for sending the messages they do, even if some seem bizarre or insignificant.

“Are there any questions?” He looked over the audience again, and, though there were some puzzled and skeptical faces, no one raised their hand. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his hands together. “Okay, then I think I’m ready to begin.”

After a brief pause, he turned to his left. “I’m coming over to this end over here,” he said, pointing to the upper right part of the section. “I need to acknowledge mom. I need to acknowledge a sudden passing, as in one minute she’s here and the next” - he snapped his fingers - “she’s gone. I also I need to acknowledge a cancer of some sort in the brain. Does this make sense to anyone?”

Hesitantly, Buffy Summers raised her left hand, her right hand clasping the hand of her younger sister, Dawn. “Our mother died from an aneurysm after she had surgery to remove a brain tumor.” She swallowed hard. “Her death was very sudden.”

“Then I’m with you. She’s telling me to acknowledge the younger female with her, as in a younger sister, cousin, friend, or daughter. There’s also an eight connection to the younger female’s passing, meaning she either passed on the eighth, during the eighth month, or when she was eight.”

Buffy whimpered softly. “Oh God,” she whispered. Louder, she said, “That would be my cousin Celia. She was eight when she died.”

He nodded in confirmation. “Do you have a sister who’s passed?”

“No, the only sister I have is here.” She raised their combined hands slightly to illustrate.

The psychic widened his feet into a more supportive stance. “Well, someone there is claiming to be your sister. I’m also seeing parallel lines, which means one of you shared something with this person - the same name, the same birthday, the same hobby, the same something.”

Eyes wide, she looked down at Rupert Giles. “It - it could be Kendra.” She looked back at John. “We, uh, did share something pretty unique. You could say there was no one else in the world like us.”

John pressed his right hand against his mouth. “Did the two of you not get along when you first met?”

That caused Buffy to smile. “No, we really didn’t. We were literally at each other’s throats.”

“Who - who’s Mr. Pointy?”

Her mouth opened in embarrassed disbelief before she covered her face with one of her hands. “Mr. Pointy was the name of a . . . thing she gave me before she died,” Buffy said when she lifted her head.

John lifted his hands and took a step back. “As long as you understand.” He paused a moment. “What’s the significance of England?”

“Well, both Giles and Spike are English,” Buffy said, motioning to the two men. Giles was sitting directly in front of her, while Spike was sitting to her left.

“That means I’m with one or both of you. Who’s the female to the side, meaning sister, wife, cousin, or friend, with the ‘J’ name?”

Giles visibly paled. “Jenny,” he said reverently. “She and I were seeing each other before she died.”

“Did she have another name beside Jenny?” John asked, cupping his chin in one hand.

“Yes, yes, she did.” Either to busy or distract himself, Giles pulled a handkerchief out of his jacket and began to clean the glasses he had taken off.

“She’s telling me not to use that other name. That’s not her, not who she is; she’s Jenny.” John crossed his arms. “What’s the connection to computers?”

Giles put his glasses back on with a slightly shaky hand. “She was a computer teacher. They – they were one of her passions, though it was not one I shared.”

“She’s telling me to tease you about the monster truck rally.”

Xander Harris, Willow Rosenberg, Buffy, and Dawn all tried to stifle laughs. “When we first began dating, she took me to a monster truck rally. It was, um, out of my league, to put it mildly.”

“She’s showing me pink roses, which is their way to express their love. I also feel there’s something you blame yourself for, like maybe you think her death was your fault.” A quick, quiet inhalation was the only sound Giles made. “She doesn’t blame you. Whatever you think you might have done, she’s telling me it wasn’t your fault and there wasn’t anything you could do. You need to move on.”

“She’s pulling her energy back,” John said, as Giles remained silent and visibly shaken. “Just know that this was her way of coming through and that she’s okay.”

Buffy reached down to place a comforting hand on Giles’ shoulder. Dawn placed her hand on top of her sister’s. Giles favored them with a brief smile of recognition and thanks.

“Who’s the male to the side - a brother, husband, cousin, or friend?” John continued. At their blank looks, he steepled his hands in front of his mouth and took a deep breath. “Did any of you ever see the show ‘Jesse’ with Christina Applegate?”

Xander and Rosenberg cried out. “Oh God, Jesse,” Willow gasped, reaching out to grab Xander’s hand in her own.

“Well, I guess that explains why he was showing me that,” John said. His expression changed from understanding to confusion. “There’s something about – it’s like –” He exhaled and inhaled deeply, as if to center himself. “Do you know why he’s showing me a tree?”

Xander and Willow looked at each other before shaking their heads. “No, we don’t,” Xander said.

His brow furrowed as he concentrated. “There’s something about a tree. He’s showing me the image of a tree.” John’s eyes shifted to the side and back. “He’s not leaving this alone.”

They fell silent as they tried to figure the reference out. “Could it be a willow tree?” Giles asked after a moment, looking over at the two sitting to his left.

One of Willow’s hands flew to her mouth as realization dawned. “My name is Willow. God, I’m sorry, I didn’t think.”

There was a collective gasp from the audience, while John moved his head and arms in a gesture of exasperated accomplishment. “It’s okay, that’s why I keep pushing what they’re showing me. That’s his way of acknowledging you specifically.”

He exhaled heavily again and took a deliberate step back, then a step forward, in an effort to regain concentration. “Who has the ‘C’ name?” John asked. “Cory, Courtney, something with a ‘cor’ sound. He’s telling me to tease one of you about the person with the ‘Cor’ name.”

Xander raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “He’s bringing up Cordelia?”

“That’s what he’s telling me,” John replied. “Why would he be teasing you about her?”

When Xander said nothing, Willow stepped in and answered. “The two of us really didn’t like her when he was alive, even though he had a huge crush on her. About a year after Jesse died Xander dated her.”

John pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows. “That would be a reason.” The gang chuckled lightly, and Willow pulled her hand away from Xander’s to wipe the tears out of her eyes. “What’s the eleven connection? It’s either the eleventh day of a month, November, the eleventh month, or the eleventh year, but there’s a connection to eleven.”

They looked at each other before Willow spoke hesitantly. “My girlfriend Tara’s birthday is in November.”

John paused for a minute, cocking his head slightly. “Has her mother passed?”

“Yes,” Willow said, clutching Xander’s hand again.

“Is there a Donny in her family? Still here?”

“Her brother’s name is Donny, and yes, he’s still here.”

“You and your girlfriend weren’t going out when her mother or your friend were alive,” he said. Willow shook her head. “This is Jesse’s way of acknowledging what’s going on in your life right now, by bringing her mother through.

“She’s showing me pink roses, which, again, is their expression of love. I’m also feeling pride regarding her daughter’s accomplishments.” There was a brief pause. “They’re both pulling their energy back. Please pass along to your girlfriend that her mother came through.”

The redhead nodded vigorously. “I will.”

“Who’s William?” John asked. He received puzzled looks from five of the six in front of him, while the sixth shifted uncomfortably. “I’m definitely being pulled here. They’re telling me to acknowledge William.” When still no one spoke up, he tried a different angle. “What’s the poetry connection? Someone’s into poems, whether it’s writing or reading them.”

“That’s enough,” Spike growled.

John pushed on, either unaware of the warning or unwilling to recognize it. “You understand these references?”

“Yeah, I do, so tell it to sod off before I figure out a way to rip it to shreds,” Spike said.

Buffy hit the vampire hard on the arm. “Knock it off,” she ordered.

John opened his mouth to speak, then shut it in shock. “This is a first. I think you scared the spirit on the other side away.”

“Good.” Spike crossed his arms and alternated between glaring at Buffy and glaring at John.

Unconsciously, John took a step away from Spike. “Who had the Dorothy Hamil obsession?”

Buffy blushed a deep red. “I did, when I was little. I had the hair, posters, dolls - everything.”

“There are pictures in our house to prove it,” Dawn added, smirking at her sister’s discomfort.

John chuckled. “We all go through those phases.” His eyes flicked away and then back in a quick, rapid motion. “Are you the one who had the birthday party at a carousel?”

“No, that was me,” Dawn said. “Mom rented one for my tenth birthday.”

He nodded the corner of his mouth tilting up. “Okay, I see what happened. Your mother opened the gates and then stepped aside so everyone else could come through, and now that they’re done she’s taking control again.

“I think she’s bringing me to you, because she’s showing me Billy Idol,” John said, motioning to Spike. The vampire let out a growl, but quieted after Buffy hit him. “She’s telling me to acknowledge the flowers you brought to the house after she died. I also feel I need to issue a warning, but I’m not sure of what. She is showing me an ax, though.”

Spike adopted a shell-shocked expression at the mention of the flowers, then laughed at the mention of the ax. “She’s tellin’ me to get away from her daughter.” He cast Buffy an amused leer, to which she responded by hitting him again.

Both of John’s eyebrows raised up, but he chose not to comment. “She’s telling me to acknowledging Little Red Riding Hood,” John said, “and placing a two connection to it. Does this makes sense to either of you?”

“Yeah, I was Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween twice, once when I was twelve and then when I was eighteen. She helped me with the costume both times.”

“I need to talk about the books, and I think I’m with you” – he pointed to Dawn – “because she’s telling me to go lower, or younger. Do you, I don’t know, really love books?”

Dawn shrugged. “I’ve had diaries since I was seven that I write, like, *everything* in.”

“No, there’s something else. Did you do something with your mother that involved books?”

“Oh, yeah!” Dawn smiled. “Mom and I were in a book club together. Buffy was jealous.”

“I was not!” Buffy exclaimed, though there was a slight lack of sincerity in her voice.

John smiled at the bickering, but quickly sobered. “She’s telling - I really don’t mean to be personal, but did one of you run away a few years ago?”

Everyone in the group except Spike grew uneasily quiet, while Buffy chewed at her lower lip. “It was two and a half years ago,” Buffy finally said. “I was gone several months before I came back home.”

“Okay, I don’t know if she ever told you in life that she forgave you, but she’s telling me that she did. If she was harsh on you afterward, it was only because she was scared she was going to lose you again. It’s very important to her that you know that.”

John tucked his right hand under his left arm and held his chin with his left hand. “I feel like there was some denial about her death and then an effort to join her, although I don’t feel like suicide was involved. She’s telling me she’s glad you didn’t go through with it and proud that you did the right thing.”

Buffy pressed her lips together and nodded, covering her mouth with one of her hands as if fighting back tears. She wrapped her other arm around Dawn, who was crying silently. Neither tried to explain what he was telling them, and John didn’t push.

“She’s showing me a huge bouquet of pink roses, which, again, is her way of expressing her love for the two of you. She knows how hard it’s been and is very proud of the way you’ve taken care of each other.” He paused, as if listening to someone. “She’s pulling her energy back. Just know that she’s okay and that she saw this as her way to come through.”

He stepped back from them so he was towards the back of the illuminated disk he was standing on so he faced the entire audience. Then he began to conduct a question and answer session to clear his mind from the last reading and refocus his concentration. Everyone listened to what he said with either fascination or skepticism.

Everyone except the six he had just perform readings for, who were too immersed in shock to pay attention to anything.


End file.
